Guidelines

The requirements for testing or validating autoclaves depend upon the type of use and the country.

Commonly used standards and guidelines are ISO EN 285, ISO EN 17665 and PDA Technical Report No. 1 Validation of Moist Heat Sterilization Processes.

Guidelines state that 11 temperature-measuring points are needed when performing a heat distribution study of an autoclave that is from 1,5 to 2,5 m³.

This number is reached by placing one sensor in each of the eight corners in the autoclave, one in the center, one close to the drain, and one next to the autoclave’s temperature sensor.